CIty of Asheville will give New Belgium $3.5 million in incentives, infrastructure improvements

As part of the deal to bring a new, East Coast brewery here, the city of Asheville will give New Belgium $3.5 million in tax reimbursements over seven years, provided it goes through with its plans to invest $175 million in building the new facility. The city will also make infrastructure improvements to the area costing more than $500,000.

The information comes from a document released by the city explaining the new incentives. After the seven years, New Belgium will begin paying about $551,000 a year in city property taxes, if the development goes as planned. The details of the city’s incentives were not part of the official announcement this past Thursday that New Belgium would build its new brewery in the River Arts District.

The infrastructure improvements include stormwater mitigation, completion of an adjacent greenway, and intersection improvements to better accommodate the brewery’s trucks, among other changes. While the total infrastructure cost is around $2.3 million, grants and state funds will leave the city having to pay $536,970 of the cost.

The city’s announcement of its incentives deal with New Beligum is below:

City of Asheville Economic Development Incentive Overview

The City of Asheville will participate with Buncombe County, the State of North Carolina, the Golden Leaf Foundation, and other key partners on a Performance-Based Incentive to assist New Belgium Brewing in the company’s new, $175,000,000 investment in the City of Asheville’s River Arts District.

The City’s incentive is made pursuant to the authority of North Carolina General Statutes 158-7.1 et seq and is a grant entirely generated from new incremental increases in ad valorem real estate and machinery/equipment taxes. No incentive is paid until the investment is made by the company and verified through a Performance Contract with the City.

The City’s Incentive is a seven-year grant and is based upon New Belgium’s investment of $175 Million. Based on that investment the city will realize approximately $879,000 in tax revenues and New Belgium will receive approximately $3,500,000 in a self-funded tax grant from the City. After the seven years, the City will receive the entire amount of all real estate and machinery/equipment taxes, which is expected to be approximately $551,000 per year.

If the company’s investment does not exceed $175 million, the grant is prorated downward and if the investment exceeds $175 million the grat is pro rated upward to reward the additional investment, but it will never exceed 80% of taxes paid.

City of Asheville Public Infrastructure Improvements to the Project area

• Regional Storm Water Mitigation. This task includes mitigating the section of the stream to the west of Craven Street, replacing the culvert under Craven Street and providing stream mitigation and storm water improvements to the stream from Craven Street to the French Broad River. The storm water improvements will improve water quality and the aesthetics of the stream. The storm water improvements will be constructed on an easement provided to the City by New Belgium.

• Craven Street Multimodal Roadway Improvements. This task includes making multimodal roadway improvements to Craven Street to include bike lanes, storm-water infrastructure and an ADA compliant sidewalk on Craven Street from Haywood Road to the Craven Street Bridge. Water line improvements will be made to the roadway as part of the infrastructure improvements.

• Greenway. This component of the project includes construction of a greenway along the north-east side of the property. The greenway will be constructed on an easement provided to the City by New Belgium.

• Off-site Infrastructure Improvements. This task includes making intersection improvements for safer and more efficient travel of truck traffic to and from the site, specifically at the intersection of Haywood Road and I-240 and the intersection know as five-points where Roberts Street, Clingman Avenue, Depot Street and Lyman Street intersect. These improvements will be made to accommodate a WB 67 truck.

• Low Impact Parking Lot. This task includes the construction of a low impact development parking lot at the north side of the site to allow the public to park. This property is currently owned by Buncombe County. The City would need to coordinate the construction of the parking lot with Buncombe County officials.

16 thoughts on “CIty of Asheville will give New Belgium $3.5 million in incentives, infrastructure improvements”

Interesting…willing to make infrastructure improvements (to the same intersection even!) to bring new businesses in to town but not to keep existing businesses from closing a local facility and relocating to another state?

Did you actually read the statements in that article? Because it doesn’t support your implied assertion.

Mr. Dave’s statements concerning the city’s infrastructure was that the area was IMPROVING too much to support an industrial operation of that nature.

If I recall, his specific complaint was that too many cars were parking in the area because of new retail establishment, as well as unsubstantiated claims that traffic circles were somehow impossible to navigate.

So, basically he was saying he wanted the area to stay undeveloped and abandoned so he could be the only business in the area. He wanted the “RAD” to be UN-improved, where as the modest improvements being made in concert with New Belgium will benefit the whole area.

Yes, not only did I read the article but I heard what he had to say in person.

My assertion is that the 5 points intersection is being reworked for one company coming into town but not another who is (was) already here.

I’m not sure how you are reading that he said the infrastructure was improving too much and wanted it to remain undeveloped. If anything he would have benefitted from more development since the company fabricates steel for structures! And in fact, fabricated the steel for the nearby rebuilt Glen Rock Depot.

The area (specifically that intersection) was going in a different direction that basically wasn’t being made safe for trucks to navigate. (and I agree that it isn’t safe)….and now the city is going to make it safe for someone else’s trucks to navigate! I’m not sure why it’s hard for anyone to see that double standard. Actually that section of Clingman with cars parked on both sides (sometimes even on the sidewalks!) is not safe to navigate for passenger cars! It’s basically only wide enough for one car to pass through at a time when both sides are lined with parked vehicles.

I’m not entirely sure if your comment about the incentives is serious or not….comparing $3,500 with $3.5 million? Really? I know there are a disproportionate number of jobs offered between the two companies but not 1000 times the difference!

Look, it’s OK if you have a dog in the race here. So do I. I was laid off from my job over a year ago in part because of one of the dogs being partially run out of town. It’s OK if you work for NB or just like their beer or the company or just want to stick up for them or just want work for them in the future. SO DO I…with all my heart and soul I wish I could go back to work tomorrow…and I’d do that work for NB everyday with a smile on my face! I think they are a fantastic company and I’m glad they are coming to town.

But you’ve got blinders on if you can’t see the double standard in play here.

Barry, the issue ashevillian7 brings up is one that has come up before. The old ACT article covering the specifics is behind a pay wall now, but as I recall Mr Dave tried to spin his leaving as directly the responsibility of the ‘liberal city council’ or some such things. Traffic circles were a big complaint of his, if I recall correctly.

So a brewery is classified as “arts” and not “industrial”…is that what you are saying?

If you’re a craft brewer, I suppose so…

But no, that’s quite a reach from what I was saying. You’re not one of those “You said ‘A’, and it’s in the same alphabet as ‘B’, so you’re really saying ‘B’, right?” people are you?

Dave Steel left that site two years ago, long before New Belgium approached the City. The arts district has been growing and becoming a viable economic engine for that side of town for years. Dave Steel found that encroachment of residential, retail, and cultural activity to clash with their industrial purposes, and it would eventually not be a viable site. I still haven’t seen anything that says that they requested street modifications for their trucks & they were denied. Is there any evidence of that?

From what I can tell, it wasn’t the City choosing the ‘beer’ industry over the ‘steel’ industry, but apparently that’s how you’ve chosen to paint it.

I’m not surprised. Those circles would seem to be a serious roadblock for big trucks. The New Belgium trucks could probably use Haywood as the route to 240 if it weren’t for them.

But as for drawing a comparison between them & Dave Steel, remember that the New Belgium site is across the river & almost a mile away by road from the former Dave Steel site. It’s a stretch to try to link these two together & say the City favored one over the other.

All that aside, I think it’s a shame that Dave Steel closed up & moved south. But that new facility in SC sits on 33 acres, and the one new building alone is 45,000 sf. The former Roberts St. site is what – two, three acres tops? Can you really say that it was just because of City Council not restricting arts development in the river district that motivated them to leave?

“Can you really say that it was just because of City Council not restricting arts development in the river district that motivated them to leave?”

I’m not saying that. I’m saying that Mr Dave framed his move from that area in that way, likely because of his own personal grudge against city council. Ashevillian7’s claims are merely a residual echo of those complaints. Personally, I find the claims absurd and not backed up with any actual evidence, as I’ve stated a few times now.

In that article you cited, Mr. Dave doesn’t complain about any lack of spending on upgrading the intersection or other infrastructure, he points to “the transformation of this area to one that is not well suited to the needs of a heavy industrial operation such as ours”.

Dave Steel didn’t leave because the City didn’t spend money on infrastructure that they wanted, they left because the area is becoming congested with other uses that made it unsuitable for continued industrial growth. You can bemoan gentrification, or the incursion of retail/residential businesses into industrial zones, but don’t act like the City did anything wrong here. The neighborhood is changing from an industrial zone to an arts district, and it was just a matter of time before a large steel operation wasn’t going to be viable there. Dave Steel figured that out.